On May 1, my 12yo had saved enough money for a Robo, cage, etc. So we got one. A male, so they said (!). We felt bad that he was lonely, and for leaving his brother behind, so on May 3 we went back and got his "brother". Muffin and Puffin, the Uffin Brothers.

On May 23, at 10:15 pm, my 12yo came running into the living room and said he'd heard a lot of squeaking - we had two new babies! Obviously, we have Mr. and Mrs. Uffin now. So the babies did well, were named Biscuit and Crescent, and are just the cutest little things. According to what we read, we had to wait 3 weeks to clean the cage re the babies, and we left, um, BOTH adults in there - they were awfully cute together, taking care of the babies.

Apparently there is no waiting period for sex between hamsters after a birth. Who knew. Ha.

So, on June 10 we bought a second cage, etc., and the next day moved Muffin (dad) to his new digs. On June 12, oops - MORE BABIES! ACK! There are 3-4, but I guess I'm wondering what to do now. Mom keeps moving the babies up to the petting zone - no way they're getting there by themselves - then moves them back down after half a day or so. Altho, at this point, they've mostly stopped moving....

I'm thinking she's had E-nough, but might be nursing one or two of the others.

Thoughts?

Hello Robin

welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you have a bit of trouble, lol, but dont worry, we can help you sort it out

Ok, the most important thing to do is to get dad out, which you have already done, so that's great As you have found out robos are capable of mating and getting pregnant on the very same day they give birth, and they usually do! so if a male is present when babies are born you will usually have babies again in 21 days! it is a good job you got the male on the 11th, as if he had been present when the second litter was born then you probably would have had a third litter on its wany now too!

Just for future reference, once the babies eyes are open and they are over two weeks old it is safe to clean them out, and although dad will help with the babies, he is only being 'nice' to get close to the mother to mate again, so he will not hurt the newborns but he will get the female pregnant again, so if you do notice any babies it is best to get the male out straight away - the female can cope perfectly well without him.

Robo babies can leave their mum at 21 days old, but they dont have to - male babies should be removed at 4 weeks but any female babies can stay with their mother indefinately (unless they start to fight). The most important thing to do now is to get the two older babies sexed and you really need this to be done accurately as you will have the same problems again if not. If you need any help just let us know, or post some pics of their undersides

If they are male babies then they can be put in with the dad, he should accept them with no problems as they are so young. If they are female then they can stay with the mother and new litter

What kind of cage do you have the mother and babies in? To be honest it doesnt sound like a very good cage for her to have babies in, but obviously nothing can be done now until the babies are past 14 days old and they eyes are open. As they are only three days old it is still avery stressful time for the mother and the babies are very delicate at this age, so if the mother is moving them about too much and is stressed out then the babies might not be getting fed enough, and you may lose them if she continues to get stressed The more stressed she gets the less milk she produces and she may end up abandoning them.

Obviously the babies can not be touched in any way before they are two weeks old, and shouldnt be moved before this time either, but i would suggest that if it is possible to remove the petting zone then you should do this - if the babies are currently in this then i think you should very gently and without touching them, take them out and put them into the main area of the cage. I dont mean to contradict myself here, it is very important not to touch the babies, but i think if you can get them out of the petting area without touching them then that would be a good thing. Also take out any tubes if it is possible and block up the holes - they best thing for her to live in is a single levelled box or cage with no tubes, compartments or shelves. like i said, i dont know what type of cage you have, so this might not be possible, but let me know Also remove the wheel if possible

If it is possible to do the above gently, without touching them, and without disturbing them too much, then you should put in a big pile of fresh food, a little fresh bedding and fill up the water bottle, then put the cage in a very quite place, maybe cover it if possible and leave for the next 24 to 36 hours if possible without disturing them. This will give them the best chance of surviving.

I hope this helps you,

Please let us know how you get on, and let us know if you need any more help

Tammy x

Thanks for the reply, I saw it this morning. Too late, though, as I'm pretty sure there are no babies still in Mom's cage. Next step, I suppose, is to sex the older babies before the end of the week. Mom seems a little depressed, so maybe she'll perk up when I put a baby back in with her - female, of course!